Petition to cancel Brexit referendum gathers momentum

Petition to have the European Union referendum cancelled has gathered momentum, according to the Independent, with over 20,000 people having signed the statement so far. This new wave of interest to cancel the referendum comes in response to the killing of MP Jo Cox.

Headlines

- Over 20,000 people have signed the statement on the Parliament website in the last few days calling for the vote to be called off at the last minute

- The petition has over double the 10,000 required signatures for it to reach its first hurdle, the Government will be obliged to issue an official response to it in due course.

- At the current rate of increase the campaign looks set to hit 100,000 signatures before polling day on Thursday - a bar which would normally trigger a debate in parliament.